The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Guide

Locations

Standing Stones are spread all throughout Skyrim, offering different advantages to those that find them and choose to use them. Here you will find a list of all the Standing Stones, where they are, and more importantly what they do. There are a total of 13 stones, but getting to some will be much easier than getting to others. New adventurers will undoubtedly run into the "Guardian Stones" first and may as well take up one of them. But its important to note that only ONE stone may be active at a time: if you choose another, you will gain its effects while loosing whatever affects you may have had.

Note: These stones are listed in alphabetical order.

The Apprentice Stone

Location: Just North of "Fort Snowhawk", or just northwest of the big city of Morthal.

Effects: Those under the sign of The Apprentice recover Magicka faster, but are more susceptible to Magicka damage.

Note: Just as the stone says, you’ll recover magic faster but be hurt by it more, which is a VERY BAD thing when facing mages or mage-ladden dungeons. With all the magic recovering equipment out there, think twice before taking this stone.

The Atronach Stone

Location: South of Windhelm quite a ways, in the marsh. It’s slightly northeast of Darkwater Crossing.

Effects: Those under the sign of The Atronach absorb a portion of incoming spell damage and have a larger pool of Magicka, but recover it more slowly.

Note: Personally I think this is an outstanding choice for mages. You basically get the Breton and High Elf RACIAL PERKS all in one at the cost of reduced magic regeneration. However, there’s so much equipment to make up for the magic regeneration. Something for you to consider.

The Lady Stone

Location: North of Falkreath, in the middle of a lake. Just a small ways easy of Half-Moon Mill.

Effects: Those under the sign of The Lady regenerate Health and Stamina more quickly.

Note: I like how "The Lady" is in the middle of a lake. This choice will bump up your regen rates, but you can do that with equipment as well if you wished. Of course, ideally you wouldn’t be draining your health or stamina that much anyways…

The Lord Stone

Location: Just south of Dawnstar, up on the northern edge of the mountain. You can find a path leading into the mountain by going south from Dawnstar and find it that way.

Effects: Those under the sign of The Lord are more resistant to both Magicka and physical damage.

Note: If you think you’re just plain too squishy, THIS is the stone for you. It grants you 50 points of damage resistance and 25% magic resistance. This will help protect you through anything.

The Lover Stone

Location: Northeast of Markarth, up in the mountains. I personally got to it by approaching from the west. You’re going to have to do some climbing.

Effects: Those under the sign of The Lover always feel a Lover’s Comfort (All skills improve faster).

Note: The Lover stone is like an all-in-one combination of "The Guardian Stones". You level up magic, combat, AND stealth skills faster, but at a lower rate than if you had a Guardian Stone active (about 15% faster compared to 20%). Still, a great pick for an all-around character. Also beware of the Cave Bear that often lurks nearby.

The Mage Stone

Location: Slightly northwest of the game’s starting location of Helgen.

Effects: Those under the sign of The Mage will learn all magic skills 20% faster.

Note: This is one of the first stones you’ll have access to. It’s shown on the map as the "Guardian Stones". Effective for raising any magic skill faster.

The Ritual Stone

Location: Just east of Whiterun, past a bridge and up a hill.

Effects: Once a day, those under the sign of The Ritual can reanimate nearby corpses to fight for them.

Note: One of the worst stones in my opinion. Sure, paralyzing and poisoning an opponent is VERY helpful, but there’s magic for that and frankly other standing stones are better.

The Shadow Stone

Location: Directly south of Riften. You’ll want to find a road to the southwest of Riften that loops around to the standing stone.

Effects: Once a day, those under the sign of The Shadow can become invisible for an extended period.

Note: Not a bad choice. The invisibility that you gain lasts for a whole minute, which is pretty damn good. There’s spells and potions that can do the same thing, but for a stealthy character this is VERY tempting.

The Steed Stone

Location: North of the (smallish) town of Dragon Bridge, the Steed Stone is up in the mountains. You’ll want to head due north and then west from the "Statue to Meridia" until you can head up and east to get to this standing stone.

Effects: Those under the sign of The Steed can carry more and do not suffer a movement penalty from armor.

Note: The Steed Stone allows you to CARRY more, which is great if you’re always making multiple trips somewhere to haul loot back. In fact, it allows you to carry 100 pounds more of stuff. PLUS, is lets you not suffer any movement penalties due to armor.

The Thief Stone

Location: Slightly northwest of the game’s starting location of Helgen.

Effects: Those under the sign of The Thief will learn all stealth skills 20% faster.

Note: This is one of the first stones you’ll have access to. It’s shown on the map as the "Guardian Stones". Effective for raising any stealth skill faster.

The Tower Stone

Location: This stone is west of Winterhold and east of Dawnstar (it acts like a half-way marker if you walked between the two). It’s up on a mountain. I recommend traveling to Winterhold and heading west, where you can climb the mountain its on from the south.

Effects: Those under the sign of The Tower have the option to automatically open Expert or lower locks.

Note: This one is for those of you that HATE lockpicking. You can open any expert or lower lock for free once a day. Not bad, this will certainly get you more loot. Or you could, y’know, just learn how to lockpick…

The Warrior Stone

Location: Slightly northwest of the game’s starting location of Helgen.

Effects: Those under the sign of The Warrior will learn all combat skills 20% faster.

This is one of the first stones you’ll have access to. It’s shown on the map as the "Guardian Stones". Effective for raising any combat skill faster.